Nintendo Wii, DS Set Sales Records in Thanksgiving Week.

Nintendo of America announced on Wednesday that during the Thanksgiving week, the first week of holiday shopping season, record numbers of Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii game consoles were sold in the USA. The figures prove that game devices from Nintendo have all chances to become the must-have holiday gift.

According to the company, Nintendo of America has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history. This includes more than 653 thousand Nintendo DS portable video game systems, 350 thousand Wii home systems and millions of games and accessories throughout the United States.

“Nintendo’s 350 thousand Wii systems represent the highest one-week U.S. sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. Nintendo DS set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600 thousand Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005,” a statement by Nintendo reads.

These are internal Nintendo of America numbers that represent sales from Sunday, November 18, through Saturday, November 24. It is unclear whether the figures stand for sold-in number of devices or sold-through estimations.

According to the U.S. market tracker NPD Group, around 100 thousand of Nintendo Wii home game consoles were sold-through weekly in the last couple of months. Thus, if 350 thousand has any relation to the number of devices sold by customers, it means that demand towards the device is nearly extreme and it can easily surpass the 1.5 million units sold-through in December.

“As shoppers look for ways to maximize their limited holiday spending money, they turn to gifts that can be used by the entire family. Wii and Nintendo DS offer something for every member of the family. They’re the most fun video game experiences at the most affordable price,” said George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications.

Nintendo Wii has manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99.